Page 44 of The Desire

Picking it back up, I send out the message to the guys, including Broderick who is working in the office today.

Rem: My office now!

I grab the stress ball on my desk and squeeze it so hard I’m surprised it doesn’t ooze fluid all over my desk.

Hearing their voices coming down the hall, I know they understood my message wasn’t negotiable.

Nic is first through the door. “Talk to me, what’s happening?” There is the tone of the boss but also a controlled man ready to take on the next problem. The only time I have ever seen him truly unraveled was when Tori left him. Again, another reason that I know I don’t need a woman in my life. They have a habit of leaving even the strongest man on his knees without trying.

“The old prick paid them off and had the hide to send a message that you owe him now.”

The look of fury on Nic’s face is exactly how I feel. For both reasons of Kentwall paying them off, which now gives the video footage a value and acknowledgment that it’s Flynn and Felisha. But even more so, for telling Nic he owed him.

“Fucking idiot,” Forrest declares.

“Felisha is going to kill him.” Flynn looks stunned at this information.

The silence is deafening until Nic’s words fill my office, not from the volume he is saying them but the tone that has us all knowing how angry he is. “Felisha will be the least of his problems. Old man Kentwall wants to come at me, then he better be prepared for a fight, because I don’t owe him a goddamn thing. We don’t stop investigating this, get to the bottom of it!” He is now staring at me with such power that I know he is not going to let this go.

“Steady on there, son. I’m not explaining to your mother I’ve had to bail you out of jail for the second time. You leave this to Rem and me.” Broderick was already a father figure to Nic, but since he started seeing Sally, Nic’s mother, he has taken that role very seriously.

“Agreed. I’m on it.” Even if he hadn’t told me to, there was no way I was letting this go. Flynn is my friend, and I’ll never stop protecting him, even if he doesn’t ask for it.

With that, Nic turns and leaves my office without another word spoken. Forrest is close after him, but Flynn closes the door behind them and stands there looking at me.

“I don’t want all the bullshit. Tell me how it is. Should I be worried this is still going to be released?” His body language tells me he is worried about this more than his bravado lets him share with me.

“Yes.” There is no need to sugarcoat it.

“That’s what I thought. Tell me what to do.” Finally, he understands the gravity of the situation. Especially now that Kentwall is placing conditions on Nic.

“Keep doing what we told you. Stay friends with Felisha but don’t overstep. We need to know what’s going on over there while we get to the bottom of this.”

“We are watching a woman we think is the influencer the message came from, but to be honest, I don’t think she is sophisticated enough to pull this off. Regardless, the team isn’t discounting her just yet. So as Rem said, do what he tells you.” Broderick is always stern in the way he speaks when it comes to work.

“Ughh, understood.” Turning back toward the door, he stops as he places his hand on the door handle. “Nic has always been there for me. I don’t ever want my actions to hurt him or this company.”

He can’t look at me when he is so vulnerable.

“I know, and I feel the same. I won’t let you down.” Already my mind is racing with things that I need to talk to Broderick about.

“You never do. Thanks, Rem.” With that he pulls the door open and is gone.

In all the years I’ve known Flynn, I don’t think I have ever seen him this serious and not trying to use comedy to laugh something off.

Seeing him acting like this just heightens my stress levels, because I’m not only trying to protect him, but now, I have to make sure Nic doesn’t do something stupid either. My gut tells me that we are okay for now and I’ve got time, but how long, that is the question.

Sitting at my desk and working through my emails is the best thing for me. Concentrating on things I can deal with immediately. Distraction from the main problem. The next email is one from the company that I used when I went diving with sharks. It’s another adventure that I had been thinking about ever since they sent out a promotional email on it. Ziplining in Cancun in North America. My cursor is hovering over the book-now button. If things weren’t so crazy around here right now, I’d already have this on my schedule and paid for.

But to be honest, it’s usually at the time I feel the instability around me, whether it’s work or my personal life, that always has me thinking about an adrenaline rush that I need to feel better. I don’t know why, but they do go hand in hand. It’s like a reset for me when I’m so scared out of my head that all I can do is think about surviving what I’m doing in the moment, so it silences everything else in my head. And when it’s over, the relief and happiness I feel makes me forget all the negativity around me, and instead I enjoy the adrenaline rush that was pulsating through my body. I take control of my mindset, and I’m ready to go again.

The silence of my office is broken as the door bursts open, and the whirlwind that is Tori comes barreling into my room.

“Okay, we are on operation get Lou a man, and you are going to help me.” She drops into the seat on the other side of my desk and waits for me to react.

“I’m busy, Tori.” I don’t even look up at her because I don’t want her to see my irritation at what she just said.

“No shit, Flynn has everyone around here busy and agitated. But this won’t take long. I need to know who this pediatrician is so I can make sure he is at our next function and Lou won’t be able to ignore him. He is trying to get her to notice him, and she is disregarding him because she thinks she needs to concentrate on Blaise and working for you. But I told her she still gets to live a life, and I know you will agree.”

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